Lethal Weapon is an American buddy cop action-comedy media franchise created by Shane Black. It focuses on two Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) detectives, Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh. The franchise consists of a series of four films released between 1987 and 1998 and a television series which aired from 2016 to 2019. The four films were directed by Richard Donner and also share many of the same core cast members, while the television series is a reboot with different actors. Although the first film was not explicitly a comedy, the later films and the television series gradually became comedic in nature.
A proposed fifth Lethal Weapon film had been in talks and development since 2007, but has yet to make it into production. In September of 2022, director Mel Gibson expressed confidence that the film would begin shooting in the early months of 2023, and will most likely see a release date the same year.
